Below:

Next story in Space

At 11:50 p.m. last night (Sept. 3), more than 200 fans were lined
up in front of the Toys 'R' Us in Times Square, waiting for the
store's midnight opening, when they'd get a first look at the
brand-new line of " Star Wars " toys
and collectibles. Inside, a lucky group of fans watched a
particularly dramatic reveal of the new toys, featuring a hip hop
dance by five Stormtroopers. [ See
photos from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" ]

The new toy line includes items that refrence the upcoming entry
into the "Star Wars" movie lexicon: " Star
Wars: The Force Awakens." Disney and Hasbro have been pumping
up the toy reveal for months: Sept. 4, the day of the launch, was
dubbed "Force Friday," with events like the one at the Times
Square Toys 'R' Us happening all over the country.

As you can see in the video above, the section of the store that
held the new toys was surrounded by a black curtain. Moments
before midnight, a group of five Stormtroopers stepped in front
of the curtain and got the crowd a cheering as they performed a
choreographed hip hop dance ( a video of these
troopers doing the same dance went viral in 2014). Then, the
black curtain dropped and the toys were revealed.

The store was full of costumed characters from the "Star Wars"
universe. There were well known characters, including Darth
Vader, Darth Maul, and more than a few Stormtroopers. There were
also some slightly lesser known characters, like the Jawa and the
Red Guard. I ran into a group of Siths and tried my best to blend
in.

Shoppers who came out to the event started lining up as early as
4:30 p.m. local time. Others said they got in line around 6 p.m.,
but were in the store hours earlier attending the full
day of "Star Wars" related events, including drawing
lessons from scifi and "Star Wars" artist Jeff Carlisle, and book
signings by Steve Sansweet, owner of the largest collection of
"Star Wars" memorabilia in the world.

And of course there was the toy everyone has been talking about:
BB-8 by Sphero. This toy is both adorable and incredible:
It's a remote controlled ball with an independent head piece that
somehow stays attached as it rolls around. It's body movements
and sounds give it an amazing amount of personality.
Here is a video of a bunch of puppies playing with it.

Some of our favorite new items included the Lego X-Wing and new
build-able Lego characters, the Millenium Falcon remote control
drone, and the new line of light sabers. The store carried the
fantastic "Star Wars" themed science toys made by Uncle Milton
that we highlighted
earlier this year. The new action figures were the first
items that the store ran out of: Fans cleared away most of them
in about 20 minutes.

One group of shoppers said they were particularly excited about
the new "Star Wars" movie featuring more female characters, and
were eager to get the related action figures and toys. One
shopper said he was nervous about seeing spoilers for the movie
in the new toys, but he came because he "just couldn't miss
this." Another fan walked out with three BB-8 toys and two large
bags of additional merchandise, and admitted she'd gone over the
budget she set for herself (many other shoppers said they also
went over their intended budget).

The event brought out a wide range of "Star Wars" fans. Some were
dedicated "Star Wars" merchandise collectors ("I have a storage
unit full of 'Star Wars' stuff," one said), while others were
buying their first "Star Wars" items. There were also fans who
were "raised on the original trilogy," (referring to the three
"Star Wars" movies that came out in the late 1970's and early
1980's) to those those who had been introduced to the franchise
through the three prequels (released between 1999 and 2005).